Skai vs Smartly.io: Enterprise Omnichannel Media and AI or Enterprise Creative and Ad Automation
Skai fits large advertisers that run search, social and retail media across many channels on yearly budgets. Smartly.io fits large brands and agencies that produce creative at scale from templates and product feeds and buy by quote.
Choose Skai if you run large budgets across search, social and retail media and want one platform with an AI assistant and a dedicated success team. Choose Smartly.io if you want to produce creative at very large scale, generate many campaigns from a few blueprints and sign a yearly contract with a dedicated team. If you also need campaigns built from a chat, Madgicx does that, from $45 a month.
See how we reached this recommendation| Skai | Smartly.io | |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay | Yearly plans: Standard $114k, Advanced $276k, Enterprise $504k, Enterprise Premier $756k. Over $35M of media a year is custom. | Quote only. Its site asks you to book a demo and lists no plans, prices or free trial. |
| Free plan or trial |
We saw no free plan or trial on its pricing page. It mentions reviewing your commitment after the first three months.
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We saw no free plan or trial on its pages. Its site asks you to book a demo.
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| Rules and automation |
Its Standard plan lists automation and optimization. Its pages do not describe rule-based automation in detail.
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Triggers switch ads on or off by performance, weather or time of day, and budget moves between selected campaigns by predicted performance.
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| AI actions and agents |
Celeste AI gives recommendations while you plan, activate, optimize and measure media. Skai Studio builds your own agents and Agent Connect links outside agents through MCP.
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AI agents that turn briefs into campaigns and adjust budgets were announced in June 2026. Its pages give no release date.
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| Building and launching campaigns |
Its pages say you activate media on its platform. We saw no description of how campaigns are built or launched.
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Campaign blueprints linked to a product feed generate many campaigns, and a shared space lets teams approve and launch ads.
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| Reporting and analysis |
Its pages mention measurement and analytics, and its higher plans add competitive insights, search term analysis and customer journey intelligence.
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A reporting dashboard, creative insights, a forecast of creative performance before launch, and reach and frequency measurement.
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| Ad platforms covered |
It says it covers 300+ channels and more than 200 retail media networks, naming Amazon, Walmart, TikTok and Google. We did not see Meta named on its platform page.
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Not confirmed: its current platform list. It is described as cross-channel for large advertisers, so check the list with its sales team. |
| G2 rating | 4.1 from 296 reviews | 4.4 from 475 reviews |
Where they differ
How the price grows
Skai: The yearly price steps up with the media you manage, from up to $4M to over $35M a year, with more features at each step. Smartly.io: It publishes no prices, so we cannot say how the price grows. Terms are set by contract after a demo.
Who each is built for
Skai: Skai is built for large advertisers and agencies managing paid search, paid social and retail media. Its pricing page sends smaller budgets to reseller partners. Smartly.io: Smartly.io is built for enterprise brands and agencies with large creative teams. G2 lists an average implementation time of two months.
How each one works
Skai: One platform plans, activates, optimizes and measures media across channels, with Celeste AI recommending actions. Teams can also build their own agent workflows in Skai Studio. Smartly.io: You build blueprints, templates and triggers, and the platform generates and runs campaigns from them. Its AI agents were announced in June 2026 without a release date.
What reviewers say
Skai: G2 lists 4.1 from 296 reviews. Smartly.io: G2 shows 4.4 from 475 reviews. In its 20 most recent reviews, 12 praise its support team and 5 call the learning curve steep.
Price
| Example | Skai | Smartly.io |
|---|---|---|
| Entry level | Standard, $114,000 a year, up to $4M of media a year | No published entry plan: pricing is set by contract |
| Mid level | Advanced, $276,000 a year, up to $10M a year; Enterprise, $504,000, up to $20M | No published mid plan: pricing is set by contract |
| Larger or custom | Enterprise Premier, $756,000 a year, up to $35M; above that, custom through sales | Custom quote for enterprise brands and agencies, sold through a demo |
Our verdict
Choose Skai if
- You get a published yearly price for each spend band.
- You get search, social and retail media in one platform across 300+ channels.
- You get Celeste AI recommendations and agent workflows you can build yourself.
Choose Smartly.io if
- You get a dedicated team and support that G2 reviewers praise often.
- You get image and video generation, editing and templates that resize ads across formats.
- You get blueprints linked to product feeds, so a few set-ups generate many campaigns.
Neither fits when
You need rules and AI actions that work on your Meta ads, with every change approved by you. Skai's pages describe no way to create campaigns from a chat. We found no audience builder on its public pages. Madgicx creates campaigns, ad sets and ads from a chat, paused until you approve. Madgicx has ready-made and AI audiences. Madgicx lists next steps for your ad account that you approve or dismiss, so every change is approved by you. Seats and ad generations are unlimited in every plan, from $45 a month.
How we compare: methodology
- How each tool automates: rules, AI actions or both.
- Which ad platforms each covers and how campaigns get built.
- What the price buys and how it grows.
- What recent G2 reviewers praise and complain about.
Published by Madgicx, which competes with both tools. We use each vendor's pricing and product pages (skai.io and smartly.io) and the most recent G2 reviews we could read, with dates listed below. This is our editorial view of fit, not independent test results. Confirm any capability not listed here with the vendor. Smartly.io publishes no prices, and its pricing page returned 404 on 27 October 2026 and again on 5 November 2026.
Frequently asked questions
How much do Skai and Smartly.io cost?
Skai is from $114,000 a year. Smartly.io is by quote. Skai entry level: Standard, $114,000 a year, up to $4M of media a year Smartly.io entry level: No published entry plan: pricing is set by contract
Does Skai have a free trial?
We saw no free plan or trial on its pricing page. It mentions reviewing your commitment after the first three months.
Does Smartly.io have a free trial?
We saw no free plan or trial on its pages. Its site asks you to book a demo.
Is Skai for small advertisers?
Its pricing page sends advertisers with smaller budgets to reseller partners, and its lowest plan is $114,000 a year.
How long does Smartly.io take to set up?
G2 lists an average implementation time of two months.
Sources
- Skai on G2, reviewed 5 November 2026
- Skai pricing, reviewed 5 November 2026
- Skai platform, reviewed 5 November 2026
- Smartly.io website (no published prices), reviewed 5 November 2026
- Smartly.io features, reviewed 15 October 2026
- Smartly.io automation docs, reviewed 15 October 2026
- Smartly.io Synapse announcement, reviewed 15 October 2026
- Smartly.io on G2, reviewed 15 October 2026
- Madgicx pricing, reviewed 5 November 2026
